*siiiigh* Why we quit.

[angledge]

I dropped out of the Team in Training season today. I have a bunch of reasons. Some of them are.... sort of good.

• I am having issues finding a sports replacement drink that is compatible with 1,500 mg/d of metformin. I have found that I am OK with 1-1.25 hours of exercise, but when I get past that point, I can't take in enough sports drink to keep me refueled without encountering real (ummm....) gastrointestinal distress from all the sugar mixing it up with the metformin. Since we have gotten into our longer bike rides & BRicks, this is becoming a real problem. It would also be a huge problem on race day, since my last triathlon took me over three hours to complete.
  
• I hate bike riding in NYC. While I realize that this is mostly a case of nerves, it is a gigantic training problem. I have been out on my bike exactly four times this season - totally insufficient training. I have tried to force myself to just get out there, but even when I do, I don't feel like I'm getting in particularly good training rides. I spend way too much energy focusing on not getting killed in traffic. Trying to bike train in NYC makes me miss Marin County!
  
• I hate training outside in the heat. Since I haven't lived on the East Coast during the summer for several years, I had forgotten just how much I hate being outside in this heat & humidity. Since I already spend about half my days outside for work, I really have hated spending additional time outside working out.
  
• I haven't been doing well on the fundraising. While I offer a gigantic thank you to any & all who have donated, so far I've only raised $882.00 out of $2,250.00. I have little interest in doing any fundraising events for TNT either. I'd rather invest that money-raising energy in hotpantsgalore's theatre company, One Trick Pony Productions.
  
• I've been working out, probably an average of six hours a week. And yet, I feel guilty because it isn't twelve hours a week. I'm sick of this.
  
• I think TNT-NYC staff is mediocre, especially when contrasted with the TNT-SF folks I met last year. Working with the coordinators has been frustrating & I haven't been impressed with the quality of the coaching.

I informed the TNT staff of my decision today (around 10 AM) & I still haven't heard a response. I plan to stay involved with my mentees all the way through race day. I'm going to continue to work out, obviously - it's an important part of my diabetes management scheme. But I'm going to stop feeling guilty about sleeping in on Saturdays, or about running on the treadmill in the air-conditioned gym instead of in the suffocating heat of Central Park.

I've been missing a lot of my goals this year. I need to think about what that might mean.

Comments

[hermiston.livejournal.com]

A hard and brave decision to come to. It's a show of strength to be definitive and introspective. I am sorry to hear training has been so difficult. As for your goals, it sounds like means rather than aims. You've got good aims; your thinking will only enable you to meet them. Don't be tough on yourself.

[love2loveher.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry it came to this! But I know that relief of just deciding that it isn't worth the stress. Perhaps if you succeed in something in helping out OTPP, it will help you feel accomplilshed?

hugs!

[etcet.livejournal.com]

There are sugar-free (or at least low sugar) alternatives on the fitness drink front - PowerAde "Option" being the one I'm most familiar with from my stint working at Big Red Can Cola Company.

But your other points make this one moot, though it may be helpful elsewhere.

Sorry life is frustrating; that seems to be going around lately.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Sugar-free would let me drink it, but it wouldn't have any calories in it to help me refuel.

[love2loveher.livejournal.com]

I assume you've researched this with knowledgeable people, and don't need me to ask triathlete boy at work if he has any suggestions? Cause I would be happy to :)

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

My guess is that a sugar-free sports drink/goo is mostly for maintaining electrolyte balance rather than for fueling. This isn't all bad.

I would be willing to guess that if the metformin and sugar are causing you grief, you haven't used up the sugar you've already consumed, but I could be completely wrong. A good nutritionist would know better than I do.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Possibly alternating one drink with the other, or mixing them half and half (or until achieving a useful balance) might be a viable workaround.

Or substitute beer. I'm a big fan.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've done some research with the team's nutritionist & Dr. Internet. The main problem is metformin - if I could find something other than metformin, the sugar problems would probably go away. But coming off metformin & going on something else would probably cause me a lot of headaches, just going through the adjustments.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Here's what the nutritionist said: you store a certain amount of fuel in your muscles in the form of glycogen. As long as I'm eating properly in the hours before the workout, my glycogen reserves will be high. That gets you through the first 1-1.5 hours of the workout. But when your glycogen resources run out, you have to provide fresh energy supplies. That's what sports drinks & supplements are supposed to do.

The problem I'm having is finding a rate at which I can tolerate the incoming sugar. I'm using Gu2O, in which all the carbohydrate is maltodextrin, longer-chain sugar but one that the body supposedly can still rapidly metabolize. I can tolerate this stuff much better than glucose or fructose-based drinks like Gatorade. BUT - I still can't drink enough of it, fast enough, to provide enough calories.

So this is what happens: I'm working out. I'm drinking a half-strength solution of Gu2O (experimentation helped me figure out how much of the powder I can mix into my bottle before I get diarrhea). I'm drinking the Gu2O steadily through the workout. About 1.25-1.5 hours in, I start feeling my heart rate climb, my muscles getting watery, & my thirst increasing. & overwhelming fatigue. If I try to push through it, light-headedness & dizziness come next. This worried me the most, especially when biking - passing out on the bike would be serious problem!

[susimoscoso.livejournal.com]

i'd be petrified riding a bike in nyc too!

[angledge.livejournal.com]

I can hardly drink anything alcoholic any more without getting drunk almost instantly & then suffering punishing hangovers. It's my second-least favorite side effect of metformin.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Lots of people manage to do it, but I have a real mental problem with it. I get so nervous before bike workouts, I can't sleep.

[(Anonymous)]

Ang, I had no idea that you had presented with diabetes. I assume Type I? My husband has Type I. I will talk to him about what he thinks about your dilemna. Honestly, being in the heat too much just kills him, but part of it might be that he had undiagnosed heat sickness or stroke.

I don't blame you about the whole bike riding thing. I do remember talking to bikers on the MetroNorth Train Hudson line. They would drag their bikes onto the MetroNorth Trains to go riding up in the burbs of the Northern counties (where I lived). Doesn't help you now, but maybe you can do that for your own fun when the weather cools off. Damn. Too bad in some ways I don't still live up there because I would let you crash on my futon and bike the whole weekend. But alas, NY was driving me broke. :) - Heather W

[angledge.livejournal.com]

No, I have very - VERY - mild Type II diabetes. I have been getting treated for insulin resistance for quite a while (since February 2006) but earlier this year I crossed some definitional threshold from insulin resistance to Type II diabetes.

Interesting that your husband has trouble in the heat. But I don't think I can blame all my heat-related problems on diabetes - I've always hated the heat!

[branniejan.livejournal.com]

You should be very proud of yourself and NOT beat yourself up! Now go enjoy life without this stress and leave any guilt behind! The guilt bags are too heavy to carry in that heat! *hugs*

[i-calql8.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lot of straws on your back, Ms. Camel. You need not feel ashamed or guilty. Just find another outlet for your considerable energy. You're doing enough athletically to stay healthy, and that's enough.

By the way, for what it's worth, I still think you totally rock. In stereo, too.